Would you like 80,000+ visitors (free traffic) from a platform that requires 20 to 30 minutes of your time daily?
If you answered no, then you must hate money.
For everyone else, the strategies covered below can be a total game changer for traffic, revenue, and becoming a full-time blogger or content creator using Flipboard.
I have used Flipboard to drive over 300k views to my site, Wealth of Geeks.
With blogging, the landscape is constantly changing. It can feel like a roller coaster ride every time Google launches an algorithm update or the newest AI tool or social media platform is released.
What makes Flipboard different? And can you best utilize it for traffic? You’ll get all your answers in this article.
Wait, Isn’t Flipboard Just Another Platform to Waste My Time On?
There are so many platforms to keep track of these days, and half of them are a total waste of time. Isn’t Flipboard just another rabbit hole for content creation? (Hint: no.)
Is Flipboard worth adding to an extensive to-do list?
Many successful Flipboard users would argue yes.
Unlike other social media channels, Flipboard is a content medium that only takes a little time to nurture organic traffic (more on that below in the Flipboard vs. Pinterest section). Plus, to curate an excellent Flipboard account, the marketing strategy will be focused on great content– which should be what you’re focusing on anyways.
What is Flipboard?
Flipboard is a lesser-known visual content discovery platform founded in 2010. It currently has around 100 million users, largely underutilized in the blogging world. It’s not quite a social media platform, with a mix of search functions and curated content. Flipboard is a news and social network aggregator whose biggest mission is to inspire and inform the world.
With Flipboard, creators focus on curating magazines filled with topics (articles) that interest their audience from their website and others. Users can create a magazine to share their interests or save them for their own use.
Why Use Flipboard?
One great way to generate traffic is by using Flipboard. Many users that have started using Flipboard are surprised at how quickly they see results. Plus, it comes with a lot of perks you might enjoy. These include:
- Fewer invasive ads: While Flipboard does work with advertisers, you’ll notice that you (and your audience) aren’t constantly bombarded with ads and other content marketing.
- Fueling passions: Flipboard was designed to help start conversations around people’s passions. It’s a fulfilling medium for sharing content, whether you’re a creator, podcaster, writer, publisher, brand, or mix.
- Experiment with diverse mediums: Flipboard isn’t just for articles. You can also share curated photos, videos, and newsletters as an influencer and creator.
- Don’t kill yourself trying to get followers: Unlike other social platforms, you do not need a ton of followers to start gaining traffic.
- Focus on quality, and the rest will fall into place: With sharing made easy, your primary focus can be on content quality. Then, spend an extra minute flipping your epic pieces as you publish them.
Flipboard vs. Pinterest
When you visit the Flipboard homepage, you might get a little deja vu because of its similarities to Pinterest. Instead of boards, you now have “magazines.” Instead of pins and repins, you now have “flips and reflips.” Plus, there are several similar functions, such as group boards, storyboards, and the ability to follow other users (or magazines).
While both are visual platforms, Flipboard does not require making a separate infographic. Instead, the focus is on providing high-quality featured images within an article. That way, Flipboard can pull the image and curate a “flip” for you in just a few seconds. This makes Flipboard significantly less time-consuming than Pinterest.
In addition, many of the old-school rules from Pinterest that made it easier to gain traffic (and are no longer applicable) appear to still be relevant on Flipboard, making it a breath of fresh air for any creator frustrated with the Pinterest algorithm. You will understand why and how to utilize these features in the strategy section.
How to Get Started on Flipboard
Getting started with Flipboard should take you a matter of minutes. Follow these steps.
1. Register for Flipboard
On mobile, tap the red “Sign Up” button (it’s recommended to download the app first from your app store). Choose how you will connect and a password. Next, you will be asked to start your profile by adding your name, preferred username, and photo.
On the Web, visit Flipboard.com and click on “Sign Up.”
2. Verify your email
You must confirm your email address before accessing your account and magazines. Make sure to check your spam folder.
3. You’re done!
All set! Once registration is complete, you’ll get a tour of your dashboard. Take time to get familiar with the toolbar. Now, you’re ready to start curating magazines and flips.
4. Double-check your settings
Go to the setting in your menu and hit “edit profile.” You can check that everything, including your profile name, was set up correctly. You can also adjust your description to make sure it fits your brand.
5. Bonus step: apply to be a creator
Being a creator comes with extra perks, including opportunities to collaborate. Apply to be a creator when you’re ready. Getting approved can take up to 60 days. Flipboard recommends doing the following before applying:
- Establish yourself as an expert in your domain.
- Publish at least once per week to your blog, newsletter, or other channel.
- Ensure you have at least 1,000 followers on at least one social channel.
- Make sure your Flipboard profile is complete, with a photo and bio.
- Have at least one magazine with a minimum of 25 items.
Whether accepted or not, you will be added to an email list to receive more tips for maximizing your Flipboard reach. If you have not gotten a response after 4 to 8 weeks, they encourage you to contact [email protected].
How to Create Your First Magazine
You’ll need to create one or more magazines to maximize your content and gain traffic.
Luckily it’s super easy to make a magazine. All you have to do is flip your first piece of content.
- Click the “Create a Flip” icon at the top right-hand corner.
- A window will pop up with magazine categories on the left and a space to input your flip on the right (a link or photo)- don’t forget to hit the OKAY button for links to generate a photo.
- Create a new magazine that you want to add your flip to and click “Add.”
- Don’t forget to add a caption to optimize engagement and catch attention.
Note: Make sure your magazines are set to publish publicly so that people can see them! It’ll stay private if you have submitted the board for review to become a creator. Otherwise, all your magazines should be public.
If you’re unhappy with how a board looks, want to change the description or title, or make it public, hit the pencil button in the bottom right corner of your magazine on your main dashboard.
31 Strategies for Generating Flipboard Traffic
Finally, it’s time to get into content strategy and tactics to help you make the most significant impact and gain the traffic you want from Flipboard.
1. Make great content
Firstly, make sure you’re creating great content. Understanding your audience and what they want to read is the best way to do this.
Blog posts that do well on Flipboard include news and listicles, particularly for budgeting, making money, and entertainment. However, if these aren’t your niches, don’t worry- there’s still plenty of opportunity.
Remember to showcase your authority, including any important brand recognition, when adding your short bio. This might include brands you write for, partner with, have been featured on, etc.
3. Diversify your magazines
Flipboard creators have found a variety of magazines helps them reach a bigger audience.
First, create a few big boards that capture your primary categories and interests. Next, take advantage of the opportunity to target specific topics and niches your audience would love to see. This will differ for each niche, but don’t be afraid to curate an extensive collection of magazines.
Most users have noticed that having more boards helps to drive traffic potential and chances of getting into bigger group magazines.
4. Don’t forget your keywords
Your best-ranking articles on Google exist for a reason: search intent and search engine optimization. Capitalize on this with Flipboard and any social medium.
For Flipboard, try to include relevant categories within your text. For example, if you are a food blogger sharing a recipe, include words like recipes, food, dinner, etc.
5. Get wordy
When creating magazines, consider the descriptions and headline titles you add to your content. When making flips, your caption should catch readers’ attention and give them insight into what to expect. Ultimately, you want them to lure your target audience in and keep them there.
Successful users recommend experimenting with what works best for each niche. You can try concise, funny, or thought-provoking captions with a question. For more detail and examples straight from Flipboard, look here.
The sooner you can showcase trending articles, the better. It’s a great way to boost the virality of a post across platforms for multiple wins at once.
While old content can be flipped with good results, users find new content generates the most traffic.
7. Connect an RSS feed
To get your new content out immediately, go fully automated with an RSS feed setup. For instructions on RSS, look here. Once you’re a creator, you can also set it up an RSS feed for each of your specific categories if you’d like.
It’s natural to think you should only share your new content, but don’t forget any content consistently performing well on other mediums. This is especially true when you’re targeting group magazines, as many of them are more interested in your most popular content.
9. Engage with other users
Flipboard has indicated that they like when you’re a team player that wants to share a passion. You should consistently be engaged via comments and flips of others’ content.
Some Flipboard users have succeeded with a 3:1 flip ratio (three flips to one outside flip).
10. Leave room for others
Sharing too much of your content can be a problem. Flipboard wants to leave room for everyone to share content. Thus, it is recommended that you limit your flips to 5 per day (in each magazine) to allow others to be heard too.
Want to flip more than 5 per day? No problem, create more Magazines and diversify what you’re sharing.
11. Flip from various websites and mediums
While you might primarily publish content on one website, remember to share a mix of mediums and websites when possible. For example, remember to share your guest posts, others’ flips, MSN or other news-related articles, and anything else you stumble upon that you find worth sharing.
In addition, don’t just limit yourself to one medium. Photos, videos, articles, newsletters, podcasts… share it all!
12. Curate your content based on your passions
Flipboard supports people’s passions and has made it easy to know what people like to follow. Look at the designated categories they have created for a big clue into what people want to see, then curate your magazines around these.
13. Utilize featured images
Like any visual platform, attention-grabbing photos are essential. For the most straightforward application, select a high-quality, exciting feature photo for Flipboard to pull the image from when generating a flip.
15. Add movement to your magazines
A newer feature on Flipboard allows adding animations and movement to your magazines for further engagement. You can upload moving photos or GIFs into magazines and then set them as your cover in the setting.
To do this, go to the magazine you want to edit, click edit in the top right, scroll to the flip (GIF) you wish to select, click on the three dots, and select “set as cover.”
15. Flip during peak viewing times
While there is no specific data on the best times of day to Flip content, general data shows people tend to consume information on their computers during working hours. Keep this in mind as a bonus way to maximize your reach.
16. Expands your niches
If you’re looking for new areas to explore, Flipboard has categories that range from business and finance to food, entertainment, tech, beauty, health, and much more. Use these categories to find new niches or subtopics you can flip on.
17. Pin your best content to the top of a magazine
You can pin your best content or notes at the top of your magazine, such as contact information for a group for joining any group magazines.
18. Arrange your content
Most people don’t realize you can arrange your content, both magazines and flips (look for the three dots on mobile and desktop). Make sure you put your flips and magazines that are getting the most traffic at the top.
19. Flip consistently
Like any algorithm, showing you’re an active user is critical to getting traction. This could mean flipping content once, several times a day (recommended), or once a week- test out what works best for you and your audience.
20. Use syndicated content
A great way to cover more ground in less time is to repurpose syndicated content into a flip. If you are syndicating articles from other websites, add them to Flipboard.
21. Join big group boards
Flipboard curates a few of its own large magazines with millions of viewers. Plus, other creators have created group magazines that you can join. Joining these are an excellent way to gain exposure. Here are links to two of Flipboard’s magazines you can request to join:
If you have an account and are ready to join, sign up via the Google Doc sheet here.
22. Create a community
Start discussions that matter to you and your audience. As an influencer, create your own group magazine that people will want to join and share.
23. Analyze data from Flipboard metrics
Flipboard has its own metrics dashboard that helps give insight into what’s working for you. When you find articles gaining traction and website traffic, focus on building more visibility and making similar content.
You can also look at your Google Analytics to get a big picture of your inbound referral traffic.
24. Join a Facebook group
Finding a Facebook group for Flipboard is a great way to collaborate with like-minded individuals. Alternatively, you can ask your authors, subscribers, or other contacts to flip your content. People have found that a few flips from the right account can help it take off.
Join Flipboard User Group.
Join Insiders Blog Share Facebook Group
25. Pay for flips
Use platforms like Viral Content Bee to “pay” for engagement to your flips. This works well for other social platforms for building a presence and can work for Flipboard too.
You can share your Flipboard magazines on other social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. This helps to get the word out about your content in a new way.
27. Ask for the Story Board feature
Flipboard currently has a storyboard feature in beta. Whether you’re a creator or not, you can reach out to Flipboard customer service and ask if you are eligible to try it. Like other platforms, this type of content has great potential for building viral posts.
28. Play nice, and stay in the game
As you grow your account, make sure to follow community guidelines. No hateful content, illegal content, misrepresentations, or spam is allowed. Follow the rules to ensure your account isn’t blocked, suspended, or deleted.
The more places your content can be shared, the better. Add a Flipboard share button on your website or blog for readers to share with their networks efficiently. Here are your two primary options:
- Have a developer custom code a share button
- Add the social warfare, Novashare, or Grow (paid version) plugin
30. Dig around other successful boards for inspiration
Flipboard has a wide range of content, and it can take time to know where to start. Instead, take the time to look at other popular boards and see what they are doing. Learn from their strategies, and think of how to create your unique style.
31. Be bold and ask questions!
The Flipboard support team is reportedly responsive and can answer any questions, help you get into groups, and guide you on storyboards.
Ready to Get Started?
Flipboard is an excellent platform for content syndication and building a presence. With the tips provided, you’ll have all the tools to create and grow your Flipboard magazines.
If you found this article helpful, please follow Wealth of Geeks on Flipboard for more ideas to help grow your blog traffic and the latest in personal finance and entertainment.
